


Summer of Shampoo

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Hairdresser!Bokuto, M/M, Swearing, bokuto has sisters, but its not a coffee shop au, coffee shops are mentioned, group chats, group chats are amazing, hairdresser au, hairdresser!kuroo, i guess you could call it slow burn, oikawa is so sneaky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 18:39:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5795581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of Kuroo's regular clients at the Hair Salon has caught Bokuto's attention big time. Oikawa is the master of meddling and matchmaking and likes to brag about Iwaizumi on their group chat, and Daichi wonders why he's friends with such people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so this is my first multi-chapter story, so I really hope that you like it!

It was a Saturday, the first of many to come during the holidays. The weather was at its best, the sky cloudless and the sun reflecting off of the pond in the park. Bokuto wished he could go out and lounge in the sun, get a good tan and drink ice cold drinks, but not today. Probably not for the rest of summer either, because he was stuck inside.

About 3 weeks ago, Kuroo managed to get him a job at the hair salon he worked at, and although he appreciated the good pay, it sucked washing old ladies hair. Although, there was one of Kuroo’s clients which came in frequently, who Bokuto loved staring at as he refilled the shampoos.

Being new and all, he was only to wash people’s hair; he wasn’t yet trusted with a pair of scissors and a paying customer’s head of hair! That client’s hair was the only hair he wanted to wash in the place, he wasn’t bothered about anybody else’s, but unfortunately Kuroo always did it, or Bokuto was busy doing something else when he came in.

“Oi” Kuroo snapped, grabbing his hair and pulling it into a short ponytail, “If you’re going to work here can you at least look enthusiastic?”

“How can I be enthusiastic when all I do is wash the hair of gross old ladies?” Bokuto grumbled, chin resting on the palm of his hand.

“Hey, my Grandma comes in here” Kuroo shook his head as he tied off the hair tie and nodded at the clock, “Your breaks over, come on, I heard the door. You’ve got hair to wash!”

Bokuto rolled his eyes and straightened up his clothes. The uniform was nice, all you had to wear was the salons navy polo shirt with logo, and Bokuto usually paired it with black jeans. He stepped out into the salon from the employee kitchen and stared at just who came in.

A woman, about 70 just walked in. Her hair was all frizzy and looked incredibly dry, and Bokuto shuddered a bit as he walked over. “Hi, I’m Bokuto; I’ll be washing your hair. Follow me”

“Thank-you, dear” she replied, sitting down on one of the chairs.

Bokuto put a towel around her neck and a gown over her, then started running the water. He never paid much attention when washing hair; he kind of just stared into the distance and let his mind wonder. I mean, as long as the hair was clean and bubble free by the end, he could think about whatever he wanted.

Her hair, much like many other ladies in their 70s, was dry and straw-like, and until it was fully lathered in shampoo, Bokuto had a hard time not cringing at the texture. At least the shampoo smelt nice.

It wouldn’t be so bad, if the ladies then didn’t start talking to you. About what their grandchildren are up to, their weekly bingo night, how the new electrician is ‘Quite Dashing’. And to all these comments, Bokuto just nodded along.

Whilst rinsing her hair and preparing to put the conditioner in, the door to the salon opened, and perfect timing, because Kuroo’s regular just walked in. Bokuto looked up, immediately forgetting what he was doing upon sight of this incredibly gorgeous guy who just appeared. Kuroo hurried over to him when he saw him, generally chitchatting before directing him to the sinks.

He sat in the seat next to Bokuto’s client and patiently waited. Kuroo came back from the storage room with a towel and bottle of shampoo and smiled at him, “Alright, so what are we doing today? Usual tidy up?”

“Please” he replied, leaning back against the headrest and closing his eyes.

Bloody Kuroo, he knew Bokuto couldn’t keep his eyes off this guy, so he just had to put him in the seat right next to him! Kuroo grinned at him, a big cheesy grin with a hint of a smirk, and Bokuto resisted the urge to swear at him. He just took it out on the old lady, rubbing her hair a little harder in irritation.

He’s watched Kuroo wash this guy’s hair before, and every time he’s always staring, wishing he could be the one to run his hands through the dark strands. It always looked so soft, tangle free and silky. He wondered what it would smell like, not freshly washed.

“Dear, the water’s a little hot” He heard a voice from underneath his arms, and when he moved them the lady was looking up at him, wincing as the water kept on getting hotter.

“Oh, god!” Bokuto jumped back, “Sorry, I’m so sorry!” he stuttered, quickly turning the water off, “I think you’re done now, um, follow me to your seat and somebody will come over in a minute, okay?”

Kuroo’s client had one eye open, watching as Bokuto fumbled around with towels and gowns as he lead the old lady to her seat. When Bokuto returned to the sink to clean up, he screwed his eyes shut again quickly.

Kuroo was smirking at him as he was rubbing shampoo into the guy’s hair, and Bokuto just mouthed something rude at him, before clearing up the mess he made after spraying water over the counter.

“How’s the temperature, Akaashi?” he asked, starting to rinse it off.

“It’s alright” he replied.

 _Akaashi? Huh, nice name._ Bokuto thought, mopping up the water.

Kuroo’s eyes flicked up from Akaashi to Bokuto and back again, then a questioning look came over his face, then he smirked again. Bokuto’s face went a little red, and he turned his back on his friend, before going back to the employee area, Kuroo grinning after him.

“Who was that?” Akaashi asked, opening one eye slightly again, “Seems a little inexperienced”

“New kid” Kuroo sighed, “his names Bokuto, if you’re interested”

Akaashi nodded, then closed his eyes again. Kuroo tilted his head, then rinsed the last of the shampoo out of his hair and towel dried it, “Alright, all done, no conditioner. Follow me”

\---

Bokuto was drumming his fingers on the counter. He was staring at the clock hanging on the wall, wishing the hands would go faster so he could go home and sit in his room and think about how badly he screwed up. Number one rule of working at a hair salon? ‘Don’t Burn the Client!’

“Dude what the hell was that?” Kuroo scoffed, coming into the kitchen and grabbing a drink from the mini-fridge, “didn’t know you were so unobservant of your actions”

Bokuto hid his face in his hands and sighed, “Was it obvious?”

“That you have a thing for Akaashi? No, not at all” he smirked, “Anyway, he’s gone now so you can stop hiding back here”

“I’m not hiding!” Bokuto defended himself quickly, maybe a little too quickly by the way Kuroo’s smirk grew, “I uh... I’m just hanging out because I have no work right now”

“Sure” Kuroo replied, a slight roll of his eyes.

\---

The walk home was tiring, not the mention the sweltering heat from the sun did nothing to make it enjoyable. Sunny and hot weather was great, except when you had to walk a good few miles to get home to finally have a shower.

“I’m home!” Bokuto shouted as the closed the door, kicking off his shoes and peeling off his socks.

“How was work?” His Dad asked; his back to the door as he watched some murder mystery drama on TV.

“It was alright, not much happened, you know the usual. How was your day?” Bokuto replied, pouring himself a glass of water and adding a couple of ice cubes.

“I work for a big international financial firm and spend my day in a stuffy cubicle filling out data reports in a group full of graduates who would rather be on their holiday getting drunk but instead they’re stuck with me and a half hour lunch, what do you think?”

Bokuto nodded and huffed a laugh, “Same old same old, right?”

“Pretty much!” his Dad laughed, “Get me a beer?”

“Sure” Bokuto handed his Dad an ice cold beer then finished his own drink before heading up the stairs. His clothes stuck disgustingly well to his skin, and it was quite a struggle to get his jeans off, but when he did he headed straight to the shower.

The water was nice and cold, and he was washing his hair when he thought back to his day at the salon. It had not been a good day, it hadn’t been the first time where he’d burnt a customer, but he still hated it every time, especially when it’s in front of Kuroo’s cute clients. He always has the cute ones.

That’s how he met Kenma, actually. He was originally Kuroo’s client and kept on coming in to get his hair dyed, eventually they ended up getting together, and Kenma let his roots grow out.

“Oh god” Bokuto sighed, remembering the look on the old lady’s face as she complained about the water temperature. He actually wondered why he still worked there; maybe Kuroo pulled some strings and got him a second chance, or, rather a lot of second chances!

When he got back to his room he noticed he had a couple of messages. Kuroo deemed it relevant to tell everybody in their group chat that he had a bad day.

 **Kuroo:** bokuto has the hots for 1 of my clients its so cute

 **Oikawa:** Ooooh, is that the one with the dark hair and long eyelashes?

 **Kuroo:** prbly, names akaashi

 **Oikawa:** I think that’s his name. I usually see him in the coffee shop down the road from your work. Orders a latte, every time.

 **Iwaizumi:** stop spying on people, shittykawa.

 **Oikawa:** Iwa-chan! I’m not spying. It’s one of my gifts, being observant!

 **Kuroo:** either way its adorable, couldn’t keep his eyes off him

 

Bokuto’s eyes widened as he read the messages. Oikawa knew Akaashi?

 

 **Bokuto:** i do nt have the hots for akaashi, kuroo, hes just cute

 **Kuroo:** u burnt an old ladys head bc u were distracted by him ;)

 **Daichi:** Oh, that’s bad.

 **Bokuto:** can you guys stop? Its not bc of akaashi, i was just preoccupied

 **Kuroo:** thinking bout akaashis ass ;)

 **Oikawa:** Bokuto I can talk to him next time I see him at the coffee place and get him your number if you want?

 

Bokuto thought about that offer for a while, I mean, Oikawa didn’t have to tell Akaashi that it was for him, just get the number, although it would be a little weird if he just got a phone call from a stranger.

 

 **Bokuto:** no, thats ok, thanks

 **Kenma:** Kuro you left your boxers at my house.

 **Bokuto:** ohoho...?

 **Kuroo:** stfu bokuto! Thanks Kenma, i’ll pick them up later

 **Oikawa:** Do you guys have to reference your sexual antics on this group chat? It’s a little disturbing.

 **Iwaizumi:** oikawa i cant believe you just said that

 **Kuroo:** yh ur usually the 1 to brag about how good your sex life is with ‘iwa-chan’

 **Oikawa:** I’m just stating facts, though I do not need to know where my friend left his boxers.

 **Kuroo:** u secretly love it, oikawa, and u literally told us once when iwa ripped a condom by accident and then proceeded to tell us how, if i quote you – “girthy” he was.

 **Daichi:** I don’t know about you, but some of us are trying to get work done to meet deadlines. I do not want notifications coming through about dick size, thank-you.

 **Iwaizumi:** you little shit trashykawa! I cant believe you said that on the chat?!

 **Oikawa:** I’m just proud of being your boyfriend!

 **Daichi:** Is nobody listening to me? Alright.

 **Bokuto:** oikawa you tell us some of the kinkiest shit sometimes too. Like wtf we don’t need that in our lives, stop informing us on your kinky sex life, srsly, its worrying.

 **Oikawa:** At least I have a sex life, Bokuto!

 **Kuroo:** he might have one in the next couple weeks or so if he asks akaashi out ;)

 **Bokuto:** alright, i’m leaving.

 **Iwaizumi:** Me too.

 

Bokuto put the chat on mute after that and got changed into some more comfortable clothes. His friends were... interesting. It was typical of them to start talking about one thing then just change the subject instantly or get into a little debate. Oikawa, as usual, starting it all.

He sat his Dad for about an hour watching his TV drama, but evidently got bored and retreated to his room. He searched Akaashi’s name in on Facebook.

His profile was what Bokuto expected, neat and tidy, with simple photos. His cover photo was of him and his friends after they graduated high school by the looks of it, and his profile picture... Wait a sec!

Bokuto leaned closer to the screen and squinted. Akaashi wasn’t alone in his profile picture, he was with a girl. She had her arm wrapped around his waist and the other was holding a graduation certificate. Akaashi looked really happy, smiling cheerfully as he held his scroll.

Did Akaashi have a girlfriend? Was he already in a relationship?

Despite Bokuto being convinced he wasn’t _that_ into him, and it was just a casual interest, he did feel his heart drop slightly with disappointment. Kuroo’s response to this would be to break them up, but Bokuto was way too respectful to do something like that, but he messaged him anyway on a private chat; he didn’t need Oikawa’s opinion on this matter.

When he simply told Kuroo that the thought Akaashi had a girlfriend, Kuroo’s first message was a couple of shocked faced emojis. But a couple minutes later he replied again, this time telling Bokuto he was an absolute idiot.

Bokuto scrunched his face, and Kuroo told him to go look at the photo again. He didn’t like that idea, he didn’t want to see Akaashi with somebody else again, but he did it anyway.

The two people smiling back at him did look fairly similar, which Bokuto decided had just become a thing since they looked nothing like each other when he first looked. He leaned in closer, and then hovered over the girls face so a tag would come up.

When it did, he felt his shoulders drop in relief and he sat back in his desk chair, letting out a long sigh. Her name was Akaashi, Akaashi Emi to be precise. Akaashi had a sister, she was Akaashi’s sister, or cousin, or whatever but they were related!

Bokuto clicked off the page and stared into the blank screen, where he saw himself smiling. He quickly stopped and breathed slowly. Was he really that attracted to this guy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, I really hope that you're enjoying it and want to carry on!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, chapter 2... Enjoy!

Akaashi didn’t show up to the salon the next day, it was actually expected, him being there only the day before and all.

Bokuto was bored, as always, standing around in the kitchen waiting for somebody else to walk through the door. He just wanted to be given the chance to actually cut somebody’s hair. It’s not like he would purposefully mess it up, he just happens to have really bad skills in hair cutting.

He doesn’t actually know how Kuroo is so good at it, what with his hair always looking so messy and bed head like, you would have thought somebody with hair like that would’ve been awful at hairdressing, but apparently not. Bokuto often wonders why he doesn’t take care of his own hair, but after so many years of it being like that, it would be weird to see it any other way.

So there he was, leaning against the far counter, scrolling through his Twitter feed, when Kuroo bounds into the room, a big grin on his face.

“What’s in your pants?” Bokuto raised an eyebrow.

Kuroo made a small irritated noise then edged closer, “Guess who’s standing outside and asked for you?”

“What?” Bokuto looked up at him, “How should I know?”

“You’re supposed to guess” Kuroo grumbled, “But fine, ruin the fun. Go wash Oikawa’s hair”

“Oikawa is here?”

“Yup. He’s waiting, and he’s a very busy man, so get to it!”

Bokuto pocketed his phone and rubbed his face. He hated washing Oikawa’s hair, or doing anything for him for that matter, because he would always complain that he was doing it wrong. He trudged out into the salon, and Oikawa was already sat down at one of the sinks.

“What’re you doing here?” Bokuto asked, putting a gown over Oikawa’s clothes.

“That’s no way to speak to a paying customer, not to mention your _friend!_ ” Oikawa replied, “Anyway. I’m going out with Iwa-chan later today so I want to look my best; make sure my hair has a nice poof to it”

“My job is to wash it. It’s Kuroo’s to make sure it has that ‘poof’ you want, or do you not have him as your hairdresser?”

“Oh, well still try not to weigh it down. Nah, I have one of the others, Tsukishima or something, it’s kinda awkward actually; he doesn’t talk to me much and always looks really miserable. But he’s pretty good at cutting it, so I keep quiet”

“Yeah I know him, he’s always really moody around me, don’t know why. Anyway, let’s get this over and done with”

“Okay, make sure to-”

“Oikawa I know what I’m doing. Relax and just let me get on with it”

Oikawa stared up at Bokuto for a moment, before sighing and nodding, “Alright”

Bokuto started the water. Oikawa had nice hair; it was always soft, but probably not as soft as Akaashi’s. He took good care of it, but it must be in the products he uses because it doesn’t nearly feel as soft as it looks.

The shampoo he used was the salon’s own brand, and Oikawa actually preferred it to company stuff, he said it made his hair smell like coconut and vanilla sorbet or something, even though the packaging says macadamia and vanilla, not coconut, but whatever.

“So...” Oikawa drifts off.

Bokuto rolls his eyes and mutters, “Here we go”

“You like the guy I see all the time in the coffee shop?” Oikawa looks up at him as he lathers his head with bubbles.

“How should I know, I don’t know what guy is always at the coffee shop”

“I actually took a sneaky photo whilst I was there earlier. I’ll show you after we’re done, but for now let’s just pretend that it is... He’s actually kind of cute”

“You don’t need to tell him that. He already knows” Kuroo comes up next to Bokuto, smirking as he reaches across the counter for a couple of bottles.

Bokuto jabs him in the side with his elbow, and tells him to go away, “Okay, so maybe I like him, so what?”

“How much do you like him?”

Kuroo clears his throat from the other side of the salon and coughs, “A lot” he mutters out. Bokuto just ignores him and carries on like he isn’t talking to him.

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind going on a date with him, if that’s what you mean” Bokuto makes sure that all of Oikawa’s hair is covered before he starts to rinse the bubbles away.

Oikawa smiles, “That’s cute. You should totally ask him next time he’s here”

“I don’t even know him. That’d be weird”

“Probably, but there isn’t any harm in doing so. I can do some spying or whatever, see what kind of things he likes and then report back to you”

“You... don’t need to do that. That’d also be weird” Bokuto replies, running the water over his head, “Really. I mean, I’m not even sure if I like him that much, so I’m just going to see next time he comes in, alright?”

“Yeah, if that’s what you want” Oikawa knew that would get him talking.

“Of course... yeah, I mean... play it out, I’ll probably see somebody else I like on the way home so...” Bokuto paused, looking around the salon helplessly before his eyes fell down to Oikawa, who was looking back at him with such a smirk on his face he wished he could just smack it off, “Screw you, Oikawa” he says.

Oikawa pouts, “Why, what was that for?” although he knew exactly what game he was playing.

“Fine. Alright? Fine. That’s not what I want, I want to go on a date with Akaashi and I’m scared to ask him, alright? There. I don’t want to just wait around”

Oikawa inwardly cheered and his grin grew, “If I was standing, I would hug you. Honestly, you are so cute, what would you do without me and my helpful words?”

“Do you want to get a mouth full of water?” Bokuto threatened, holding the stream of water up so Oikawa could see.

“Do you want to get a mouth full of dick?” Oikawa replied, eyebrow raised.

Kuroo coughed from across the floor again, “Yes”

“KUROO!” Bokuto shouted. He turned around and glared at his friend, who was in fits of laughter against one of the tables. He was thankful that there were only about 2 customers there at the time, including Oikawa, and the other was too old she probably didn’t pick it up.

“Ignore him” Oikawa said, “but do what to want in terms of the whole Akaashi thing. Next time he’s here wash his hair and just chit-chat, you know, be charismatic”

Bokuto sighed, “Not everybody is as good at starting conversations as you, Oikawa” he said, “even if I had a topic in mind I’d just fumble around with my words and get distracted”

“You are like a child” Oikawa deadpanned, “use your brain once in a while! You’d be surprised what you can do, just talk about the weather or something”

 Bokuto rubbed the conditioner between his hands, then started working it into the brown strands of hair, “I guess... I’ll figure it out”

“Do you not want to wash his hair?” Oikawa asked, “he looks like he has nice hair, and that’s something coming from me!”

Bokuto clicked his tongue, “Yeah I mean, I do really want to wash it... Run my... hands through it, maybe” he drifted off after that, thinking about the contrast of Akaashi’s dark hair and his paler hands. It wasn’t until he heard Oikawa badly trying to hide laughs that he snapped back into reality. “Or, you know, whatever...” he cleared his throat.

“I think it’s adorable” Oikawa smirked, “My child is growing up!” he practically beamed.

“I’m proud too” Kuroo wrapped an arm around Bokuto’s shoulder, and leaned all his weight against him, “My bro getting his first crush”

Bokuto struggled out of Kuroo’s arm and nudged him away, “Would you two stop acting like my parents?” he said, to which the others just grinned at him, “He’s not a _crush._ He’s just a guy who I think is very attractive and wouldn’t mind-”

“Banging.” Kuroo interrupted, Oikawa snickered behind his hand.

“ _No!”_ Bokuto snapped, “I wouldn’t mind _dating.”_

“Well we all know what that’ll eventually lead to don’t we?” Kuroo smirked, leaning against Bokuto again as he began towel drying Oikawa’s hair.

“You are so immature” Bokuto looked over his shoulder, “and I know that’s rich coming from me but, seriously, I’m trying to have a conversation and your lewd comments aren't helping”

“Someone’s gotta do it” Kuroo replied, “You done here ‘cause I’ll go get Tsukki”

“Didn’t he tell you not to call him that?” Bokuto raised an accusing eyebrow as he gestured Oikawa to sit forward.

“He’s not around, so it’s not like he’ll know” Kuroo pointed out, “Sit him down at his station and I’ll get the guy, he’s in a particularly bad mood this morning”

Bokuto rolled his eyes and Oikawa got up and went to sit down in front of the mirror, and he immediately started picking at his hair and checking if he looked alright. “He’s always in a bad mood. But I guess it didn’t help that you put salt in his coffee instead of sugar this morning”

“It was an accident!” Kuroo pouted, “I swear, I didn’t mean to!”

Bokuto didn’t reply to that, instead he went to check the appointments for the rest of the day. Thankfully, there wasn’t anybody booked in for a wash, so he was pretty much done for the day. Smiling, he turned around to face his taller friend, “You done for the day? Because I am and I was thinking about getting something to eat”

Kuroo shrugged, “Still got a couple more, sorry. Go on, I’ll see you tomorrow alright?”

Bokuto nodded, then headed out.

Working at the salon was good, it’s not like he didn’t enjoy it, he usually had a good laughs with Kuroo in the kitchen on a break. Despite Oikawa being really picky with how his hair is done, he does make the day a lot more interesting, coming up with random stories to tell him or filling him in on the gossip.

He wondered around for a bit, and wasn’t hungry anymore, but thirsty. He found himself at a coffee place, and without registering _what_ coffee shop it was, he opened the door and walked in. It wasn’t very busy, maybe a couple people sitting at the tables, but then again most people would be at work.

He looked up at the menu boards above the counter, completely unaware of his surroundings as he stood right behind somebody being handed their coffee and about to turn around. He was checking the price of an iced mocha when said person actually turned around. Caught by surprise, Bokuto jumped, causing his hands to come up and make contact with the person’s takeaway cup.

You know how those cups never have lids that stay on? Yeah, well that was the case here.

Bokuto’s eyes were so wide as he stared at the person before him, his face burning red and he was just thankful Kuroo wasn’t around to laugh at him and make it worse. Stood before him, white shirt covered with boiling hot latte, was Kuroo’s regular, also known as Akaashi. _Shit._

“I... I am so sorry!” Bokuto gasped, already trying to reach paper napkins from the counter, “I am so sorry! Are you okay?”

Akaashi didn’t object to Bokuto trying to dab his shirt, he just looked at him with a slight smirk on his face, “I’m fine, thanks”

Bokuto looked up, “I am such an idiot, are you sure?”

“I’m sure” Akaashi replied, “Bokuto right? You work at Nekoma’s?”

“Yeah, yeah that’s me... Oh god, are you sure you’re okay?” Bokuto felt his stomach flutter a little when Akaashi recognised him.

“Relax, I’m OK. Don’t worry about it” Akaashi smiled.

Bokuto felt a little calmer, despite being in such an unfortunate situation. Of course it had to be Akaashi that he bumped into; of course he was too distracted to look at the name of the coffee shop before going in. This wasn’t exactly the way he hoped things would go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank-you for reading chapter 2, and I hope you enjoy the next one!


	3. Chapter 3

Kuroo was in fits of laughter two days later, when Bokuto finally had the courage to tell him what happened at the coffee shop.

“It’s not funny!” Bokuto snapped, “Seriously it couldn’t have been more horrific!”

Kuroo wiped away a tear that was forming and took a couple of breaths, “Oh boy, did you mess us badly!” he giggled, “I honestly can’t believe you did that. That’s going on the group chat!” He whipped out his phone and began typing quickly, obviously not bothered about potential typos. Bokuto just watched and grumbled, any complaint he made would just go ignored anyway.

His phone buzzed in his pocket 2 minutes later.

 **Kuroo:** bo threw coffee down akaashis front the other day hes such an idiot

Bokuto was happy that most of his friends would be at work around this time, so he didn’t have to worry about people seeing it and making fun of him straight away just yet. He didn’t bother defending his pride either, because no matter how hard he’s tried in the past his friends have always found a way of shutting him down.

So, as Oikawa is usually at the coffee shop, he already knew about Bokuto’s accident as he just happened to sit down at Akaashi’s table and get into a conversation with him about the weather. He asked what happened to his shirt, and he got told, before he had to run otherwise he’d be late for his date with Iwaizumi, but either way he got the information he needed. Then proceeded to keep it a secret from Kuroo who he knew would make fun of him, and decided to do some meddling himself.

 

 

**(2 days earlier)**

Oikawa sipped at his drink, “Bokuto’s a good guy, really, he’s just a bit clumsy”

“I don’t doubt that he is” Akaashi replied, “I’m not overly fussed about it, though, I mean yeah I’ve got to wash this shirt for the second time this week but that’s nothing, right?”

“Right” Oikawa waved his straw in the air, “You go in there a lot don’t you, the salon, I mean”

“Yeah... I guess I do”

“But you always look the same; don’t you want to change it up a little?”

Akaashi shifted a little uncomfortably, and Oikawa felt a little proud to be the cause of it, he knew what game he was playing. “Well, it could always do with a little tidy up I suppose”

“You know I don’t think that’s the only reason you keep going there” Oikawa smirked, smiling at the pink glow growing on Akaashi’s cheeks.

“Well Kuroo is a good hairdresser, you know?” he replied, fiddling with the newspaper he was previously reading.

“Yeah, I don’t have him as mine but I’ve seen some of the work he’s done, it’s impressive. Now, Bokuto doesn’t have that level of skill, he’s pretty inexperienced. He needs a lot of practice but they won’t let him cut anybody’s hair”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

Oikawa shrugged, “Just doesn’t have enough practice so he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. What he needs is a willing dummy to practice on, somebody who doesn’t mind giving up a couple hours every now and then to help a guy achieve his goal of becoming the best hairdresser in the world”

Akaashi raised an eyebrow, and Oikawa realised he may have gone too far, “What I mean is” he carried on, “is that he just needs more practice. Practice makes perfect right?”

“I suppose” Akaashi said quietly, before looking down.

Oikawa jumped up with a smug grin on his face, “I’ve got to run, date night” he beamed, “We had a good chat.” He patted Akaashi on the shoulder as he walked past and out of the coffee shop.

Akaashi sat there absentmindedly tapping the table, then he looked out the window and watched Oikawa walk down the street, and an idea came to his head.

 

\----

 

 “Oh, by the way” Kuroo looked over his shoulder as he poured himself a drink, “I have a 2 o’clock appointment...” he paused to take a sip of his tea, “it’s Akaashi”

“Noooo...” Bokuto actually backed away from Kuroo a little, and his shoulder sunk, “please, you’ve got to be kidding me”

“Afraid not, buddy. But you know, you might not actually have to see him, just hide out here for a bit, ‘kay?”

Although Bokuto nodded, he definitely wasn’t okay with this. I mean yeah sure just smiling and saying sorry again wasn’t exactly difficult, but he didn’t know if he could look at Akaashi’s face without remembering how embarrassing it was to cover him with coffee.

He looked back at the clock, the hands telling him it was 1pm, he had an hour. An hour to pace back and forward the kitchen thinking about what he could possibly do to make things worse right now. Should he stay in there? Should he go make awkward small talk whilst Kuroo washes his hair? Should he just run away and never come back? Option C seemed more appealing to Bokuto, but he had to be realistic.

Akaashi was one of Kuroo’s regulars, and if he was going to continue working at the salon, he had to be able to go out and face him.

Before he knew it, after going over things he could say to Akaashi when he arrived, it was 5 minutes to 2, and Akaashi would be walking through that door any moment now.

_*Ding*_

Bokuto jumped at the sound of the bell above the door, and craning his neck around the doorframe, he saw that Akaashi had just walked in, and it was go time.

Casually, he stepped into the salon and headed straight towards Akaashi, ignoring how crazily sweaty his hands were getting.

“Hey” he said, a little unwilling to look straight at him.

“Oh, hi” Akaashi turned to face him, a small smile on his face.

“I’m sorry about your shirt again... Uh, I’ll go get Kuroo for you”

“Don’t” Akaashi blurted, cheeks pinking a little, “I mean, you can tell him that I’m here, it’s just I need to talk to you a sec”

Bokuto looked a little confused, then clicked his fingers, “Right, how much do I owe you for the dry-cleaning?”

Akaashi tried not to laugh, “You don’t owe me anything for the dry-cleaning, that’s not why I need to talk to you” he said, “Uh, I was wondering if you’d wash my hair for me today”

“I- I... I’m not- Kuroo usually does your hair” Bokuto’s face flushed.

“I know, I know, but you seem like you could use the practice and I’m willing to help out, you seem to get stuck with the older ladies”

“Well yeah, but I mean, are you sure? I’m not exactly a professional or anything” Bokuto was a little worried. He really liked Akaashi’s hair, what if he couldn’t keep his cool and end up ripping it out or something?

“Yeah I’m sure. Kuroo will cut it for me afterwards. Maybe if you do a good job washing it today you can cut it for me next time I’m here for practice as well. I’ve noticed you’re not allowed to cut people’s hair recently”

 _Cut it? He’s actually saying Bokuto can_ cut _his hair?!_

“Uh... I don’t know if you want me cutting it. I’ve had no training or anything-”

“I’m happy to help out. You want to be a hairdresser right? So you need the practice”

“YES!” Bokuto blurted. He didn’t actually want to be a hairdresser, but he wasn’t just going to turn down an opportunity to hang out with Akaashi more. “Thank-you... Um, go sit over there; I’ll be back in a sec okay?”

Akaashi’s smile grew a little, “Alright”

Kuroo was sitting down reading through a magazine when Bokuto ran into the employee lounge, beaming with excitement.

“What’s in _your_ pants?” Kuroo smirked.

“I’m washing Akaashi’s hair!” Bokuto jumped up and down a little.

“ _What?!”_ Kuroo leaned forward, jaw dropped a little, “No way... No way, he’s the best customer I have, you stay away from him!”

“No, no!” Bokuto sighed, “It’s okay, he just came in and told me that I could use the practice and that he doesn’t mind helping me out. He said maybe next time I could _cut_ it!”

Kuroo snorted, “There is no way I’m letting you _cut_ his hair. You’ll fuck it up big time and I don’t want that. People will think it was me”

“I’ll take full responsibility for fucking it up, if that happens, but it won’t” Bokuto spun around, “Now if you excuse me, I have a customer. Oh and by the way you’re cutting it afterwards”

Bokuto went back out and Kuroo called after him, “I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

Okay, it was okay. Everything was fine, he’d done this before. Akaashi’s just another customer, another customer with an incredibly pretty face and cute butt, but other than that, another customer. It was just like washing Oikawa’s hair, or all the old ladies, but it was just on the head of somebody else, do big deal.

He did the usual, putting on the robe and then heating the water. Akaashi had his eyes closed, something Bokuto had noticed he did every time he came in. Most of Bokuto’s clients kept their eyes open so they could talk to him, but Akaashi always had them closed, and he was always fiddling with something. In this case it was the hem of the robe, which Bokuto thought added to his cuteness.

He desperately wanted to run his hands through his hair, but he refrained, and instead asked a simple question, “Do you think it needs to be combed through first?” he chanced.

“Do whatever you feel you need to do” Akaashi replied, “Treat me like any other customer”

Yeah, _that_ was easier said than done. Hesitantly, Bokuto grabbed the comb lying on the counter next to the sink and hovered over Akaashi’s head. He was finally going to feel his hair, get the answers to all the questions about how soft it was or how it smelt, of course actually smelling it would be a little weird.

He dragged the comb through his hair, and then his hand followed after it. It was tangle-free, so it glided through with ease. After a couple of strokes, he abandoned the comb and started using his fingers. Akaashi’s hair was incredibly silky, and the colour of it fitted perfectly to Bokuto’s skin.

“Um” he heard Akaashi speak, and Bokuto looked down at him, wide-eyed. His eyes darted back to his hands, which were tangled up in Akaashi’s hair a bit more than they should be.

He quickly removed them and cleared his throat, “Sorry... Okay, let’s get this over with, huh”

Akaashi closed his eyes again and breathed slowly. Despite being a little odd, the feeling of having Bokuto’s strong hands running through his hair like that made his stomach flutter a little.

It was going smoothly, everything was working fine. He’d managed to get the shampoo in and out without fault. Now it was time for the conditioner. He turned off one of the taps, but, it wasn’t the right tap. So as Bokuto was rubbing conditioner between the strands of Akaashi’s hair, the water that was then going to rinse it out was getting hotter and hotter by the second.

“So far so good” Akaashi opened an eye, “See, you’re getting better already”

Bokuto blushed, “Please don’t jinx it!” he smiled.

It was too late to jinx anything now, the water was scolding hot and it was about to go on Akaashi’s head. “Alright” Bokuto said, “One last step and then we’re done!”

The second the water fell onto Akaashi’s head he let out a sharp screech and jumped forward, almost falling off of the chair. Bokuto dropped the pipe, making water go everywhere as he desperately tried to turn off the water. When he did, everybody in the salon was staring at him, and Akaashi had a hand on his burnt head as he looked sadly in Bokuto’s direction.

Bokuto fell against the counter, hiding his burning red face in his hands, “I... am _so_ sorry...”

Akaashi didn’t say anything, just winced as he removed his hand. Shortly, Kuroo came out of the kitchen with an icepack and handed it to Akaashi, “Hey, Akaashi, nice to see you” clearly he found this amusing.

Akaashi accepted it with a weak smile and put it on his head; he still didn’t look up at Bokuto. Kuroo went into the cupboard to get some of the things ready for when he cuts it.  

“Akaashi I am _so_ sorry. I am such an idiot, are you okay?”

“Please don’t make this a habit” Akaashi said.

“What? What do you mean?”

Akaashi finally met Bokuto’s eyes and let out a small tired laugh, “Of burning me every time we meet, I’m afraid it won’t go down well in the future”

“Oohh” Bokuto caught on, “I’ll try not to... Uh, are you okay?”

“I’m fine; don’t worry about it, really. You’re not going to get better without practice right?”

Bokuto almost looked hopeful, “Right” he said.

Bokuto thought Akaashi was crazy as he watched him go take a seat at the station Kuroo worked at. He still didn’t mind helping him out? Still didn’t mind running the risk of everything going wrong? He didn’t even know Bokuto that well and he still wanted to come in and help him.

Bokuto breathed slowly, recollecting everything that just happened. He’d messed up, but Akaashi still wanted to see him. He felt a small warm feeling in his stomach as he walked back into the employee lounge.


	4. Chapter 4

It was Kuroo and Bokuto’s day off, so they decided to go to the arcade Kenma worked at and annoy him for the day, which was their favourite thing to do on a day off.

“Can’t you guys go annoy Oikawa or something?” Kenma asked, trying to stack shelves of video game merchandise.

Kuroo pouted, “I wanted to see you, I’ve missed you these past couple days”

“Two days aren’t going to kill you Kuroo, and you know I’ve been super busy and- Bokuto put that down!” Kenma snatched the battle axe that Bokuto was waving around and put it to the side, “I don’t know if I can do anything today either”

Whilst Bokuto sulked, Kuroo rested his head on Kenma’s shoulder, “Babe... I want to take you out for lunch” he mumbled.

Kenma smiled slightly, “And will Bokuto be tagging along?”

“I’m kind of baby-sitting him at the moment” Kuroo joked, “I don’t want him running off and spilling coffee down anymore people”

“Hey!” Bokuto shouted from a Space Invaders machine. Both Kuroo and Kenma rolled their eyes then heard a ‘Game Over’ sound play and Bokuto grumbling.

“I’ll take you out for a nice romantic dinner tonight or tomorrow, just the two of us, okay? It’s just it’s our day off today and I wanted to see you but I can’t leave Bokuto unattended, at least tonight I’ll know his Dad will be watching over him and making sure he’s in bed at a reasonable hour”

“Excuse me” Bokuto interrupted, “You said you’d take me out for a romantic dinner?”

Kuroo gave Bokuto a quick playful punch in the arm and turned back to Kenma, “Tonight. We’ll go out, just us two without this one, I promise. What do you say?”

“We can go out for lunch today” Kenma replied, “But, isn’t there a place we can drop him off so it’s just us? Then, tomorrow you can take me out for dinner”

Kuroo smiled and kissed Kenma’s forehead, “Awesome. We can leave him around here as long as he promises to stay out of trouble... You know I love you right?”

“Yes” Bokuto piped up, “And I love you too” he smirked.

“Bro...” Kuroo put a hand to his heart.

Kenma rolled his eyes, “I love you too, Kuro” he said.

Whilst Kuroo escorted Kenma from the arcade to take him to lunch, Bokuto scuffed his shoes on the floor in the mall. It wasn’t often that he was without Kuroo, but he understood that he wanted time alone with Kenma.

There weren’t many places that interested him, he did a bit of window shopping, trying to think of ideas to get people for their birthdays, but came out empty-handed.

He was around the second floor foot court when he spotted Kuroo and Kenma at a table in a cafe, sitting opposite each other, sharing a milkshake. Kuroo must’ve said something funny because Kenma was trying not to laugh as he hid his face behind his hands.

Kuroo grabbed Kenma’s hands and ran circles on them with his thumbs before saying something which made Kenma’s face go bright red. Bokuto saw the way they were looking at each other, into each other’s eyes with such adoration, and he felt a tinge of jealously pool in his stomach. He tore his eyes away and turned around, telling himself it was stupid to be jealous of them, they were his best friends.

But he was jealous, jealous of the fact nobody would look at _him_ like that and nobody would share a milkshake with him. Well, actually he did share one with Kuroo once, but that was because they couldn’t afford two.

He felt really down then, and wanted to go home, but he brightened up immediately when he spotted somebody across from him, walking hand in hand with somebody else.

“Daichi!” He called, “Hey! Hey, Daichi!”

Daichi turned to face him, face flushing and he hid behind his hand a little, “Please don’t come over... _please don’t come over_ ” he whispered.

“Hey!” Bokuto said, now standing right next to Daichi.

“ _Shit”_ Daichi muttered, “Uh... hi, Bokuto”

“Fancy seeing you here”

“Uh yeah, _what a coincidence_ ” Daichi replied, faking a smile. He gripped the hand he was holding, slightly wishing that he could just run away without his partner being noticed as Bokuto usually wasn’t that observant but he did, unfortunately.

“Ohoho? Who’s this?” Bokuto asked, peering round at the person standing next to his friend, “Got yourself a little _friend?”_ Bokuto nudged his arm whilst raising his eyebrows.

“Uhhh... Bokuto this is-”

“Suga. My name’s Suga, nice to meet you” The gray haired guy moved around Daichi and shook Bokuto’s hand with a smile.

“Oohh, very nice” Bokuto winked at Daichi, who just looked away, “So where’d you two meet?”

That was the last question Daichi wanted to hear, last thing he wanted was for Suga to be interacting with _Bokuto._ He was just thankful Kuroo wasn’t around as well.

“At a literature class” Suga answered.

“ _Literature?”_ Bokuto repeated, eyes darting between the two boys in front of him.

“He might not look like it, but this guy” Suga pointed at Daichi, “is quite the Shakespeare enthusiast”

“Oh _really?!”_ Bokuto beamed. Daichi shuffled his feet around on the ground, and muttered a small “Yeah”

“Anyway. He liked me for however long and didn’t have the courage to ask me on a date, so I just asked him” Suga continued, “He didn’t know how I liked him back, see, so it was just a mess and eventually it worked out”

“Wait a minute... How long have you been dating?” Bokuto questioned, suddenly realising that Daichi’s never mentioned a boyfriend of any sort. Actually this is probably why; Suga didn’t seem like the guy to get embarrassed about things.

“About 2 months”

“ _You’ve had a boyfriend for two months and you’ve never once mentioned it to us?!”_ Bokuto’s eyes widened, “ _Did_ anybody _know about this?!”_

“You didn’t tell any of your friends?”

“No I didn’t, and now do you know why?” Daichi gestured to Bokuto, who was standing there, completely taken aback by everything that just happened.

“Come on, they’re your friends. They’d get it” Suga patted him on the shoulder.

“ _Exactly!”_ Bokuto agreed, “Hey, do you want to be added to our group chat?”

“NO!” Daichi shouted.

Suga shook his head, then smiled at Bokuto, “I’d love to, thanks”

Daichi groaned and dropped his head. This wasn’t going well, at all. Even worse when his phone buzzed to notify him that Suga had been added to the chat and was now available. Followed by a message from Bokuto telling everybody that Daichi had a secret boyfriend of two months that nobody knew about.

 **Bokuto:** daichi met his _boyfriend_ at a literature class. Daichi=Shakespeare enthusiast.

 **Kuroo:** daichi u sneaky bastard! i cant blve u nvr told us abt this

 **Daichi:** Surely you know the exact reason I didn’t introduce you.

 **Suga:** Hi everyone! I’m Sugawara, Suga for short!

 **Oikawa:** This is literally so cute. Do you realise Bokuto you’re the only one on this chat who is _still_ single?

 **Kuroo:** he might not be for long tho ;)

 **Bokuto:** piss off kuroo, get back to your date with Kenma! And oikawa you be quiet, go have sx with iwa or smth

 **Oikawa:** Already done that today, my friend.

 **Daichi:** Oh my god we have a guest!

 

“I’ll leave you guys alone now, you’re probably on a date or something” Bokuto said, putting his phone in his pocket.

“You’re still single?” Suga asked, also pocketing his phone. Daichi gave him a questioning glance and shifted again.

“Uh, yeah... Why?” Bokuto replied.

Suga shrugged, “Nothing, you just seem like a guy who would’ve gotten somebody by now, did one of the guys on the chat say you might not be for long? Have somebody we’re eyeing do we?”

“Suga” Daichi warned, but Suga just gave him a playful look and hummed.

“Wha- I guess, I mean, he’s cute and all but...” Bokuto drifted off.

“Interesting” Suga smirked.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, nothing. Don’t wait too long to do anything though. Daichi was lucky I caught on and that I liked him too, this guy might like you back but you’d have no idea. Don’t wait, you’ll regret it”

Bokuto was silent, but Daichi spoke up and started dragging Suga along, “This guy is very awkward when it comes to that kind of thing. Don’t expect another boyfriend to be joining the chat any time soon.” Then they were gone, and Bokuto was alone.

Bokuto turned around and looked at Kenma, who was now feeding Kuroo French-fries. He shook his head and let out a loud breath, thinking there was no way Akaashi would be interested, Suga was probably wrong.

But he wanted him to be right; he wanted him and Akaashi to be Kuroo and Kenma right now. Akaashi holding up French-fry after French-fry and Bokuto taking it between his teeth with a stupid smirk on his face.

There it was again, that pang of jealously, just when he thought he’d gotten a distraction.


	5. Chapter 5

Bokuto was even more nervous the next day, standing above Akaashi with a shampoo bottle in his hands. It was the second time he would wash his hair, and after last time’s accident, he didn’t feel one bit confident about it.

“Remember to check the water temperature” Akaashi had joked beforehand, which did make Bokuto’s nerves calm a little, but palms clammy.

He squeezed some shampoo onto his hands and started rubbing it into Akaashi’s hair, carefully checking the water temperature with his elbow every now and then. The last thing he needed was a repeat of last time.

It was awkwardly silent in the salon apart from the quiet hum of the music coming over the speakers. There weren’t many customers, Kuroo was busy cutting some dude’s hair whilst Tsukishima took his break listening to music in the employee lounge, so Bokuto took it upon himself to try and talk.

“So, got any siblings?” he asked, remembering the picture he saw on Akaashi’s Facebook.

Akaashi shrugged slightly, “Nope.” He said, “I’ve got loads of cousins though, you?”

“I have two younger sisters, they’re 7 and 9 but I don’t see them very much because they live with my Mum in Yokohama”

“Oh. I’m sorry”

“Nah” Bokuto replied, “They’re actually meant to be coming to visit me and my Dad at some point this summer, but I’m not sure on the date yet”

“Yeah!” Kuroo shouted over his shoulder whilst pinning up his client’s hair, “I’m looking forward to seeing those two again, little rascals” he laughed.

Akaashi smiled and Bokuto shouted back, “You know we’re going to have to do a lot of baby sitting right? My Dad’s tired as it is with work and all”

“That’s fine” Kuroo replied, “We can take them to the arcade to see Kenma, they love him”

Bokuto laughed but didn’t say anything else; he had to concentrate on washing the shampoo out of Akaashi’s hair without burning him again.

“What’re their names?” Akaashi asked.

“Chiyo is 7 and Fumiko is 9” Bokuto replied, running a hand through Akaashi’s hair to check for bubbles, “Uhm, so these cousins, any of them live around here?”

“Yeah, whilst the majority of them live in Osaka, my Aunt, Uncle and two cousins live here. One is 16 and the other is more around our age, she actually went to the same high school as me and we graduated together”

“Really?” Bokuto raised an eyebrow, he knew the answer but wanted to hear it from Akaashi, “What’s her name?”

“Emi”

Bingo.

“That’s pretty” Bokuto smiled, “Alright, ready for conditioner?”

“Yup”

It was going swimmingly! There was nothing to worry about, he hadn’t burnt him, he hadn’t hit him in the face with anything, what could go wrong now?

He picked up a bottle of conditioner and opened the cap, only to find that it was nearly all gone. Either way it was the only one on hand so he had to make do.

He squeezed the bottle a couple of times, and only small amounts coming out, so he gave it one big shake and tried again, only to find everything come out at once.

“Ahh!” Akaashi cried.

Oh God, what’s he done now?

He looked at Akaashi, who didn’t look in as much pain as he did the other day, but didn’t look comfortable. His finger was resting just below his eye and they were both watering, “I think it went in my eye” he said, blinking.

“Oh, damn it. I am so sorry!” Bokuto fumbled, dropping the bottle and getting a tissue, “Heh, are you alright?”

“Where have I heard that before?” Akaashi laughed, taking the tissue and dabbing around his eye.

Kuroo was watching the situation unfold in the mirror and smirked, “You’re not supposed to blind our customers, Bo”

“I’m fine, really” Akaashi said, and Bokuto blushed again, “Want to try again?” Akaashi leant back in the chair again, eyes closed and a little red.

“Uh, okay” Bokuto replied, hands shaking like crazy.

The rest, despite what happened, went pretty well, and he sent Akaashi off to Kuroo’s station whilst he went and calmed down in the employee lounge. Tsukishima was still there, quietly listening to his music and took no interest in communicating with Bokuto.

Kuroo finished cutting some guy’s hair and sent him to the reception desk, then went over to Akaashi and put his hands on his shoulders, “Tidy up?”

“It’s like you read my mind” Akaashi laughed.

Kuroo got to work, carefully cutting the ends of the strands, making sure to get every split end he could, “How’s your eye?”

“It’s okay, stings a little bit, but please don’t tell Bokuto that”

“I won’t” Kuroo replied, “He feels really bad, you know”

Akaashi sighed, “He shouldn’t. It was an easy mistake, it just happened, it was nobody’s fault”

“Funny it was you two again, where he goes disaster follows” Kuroo smirked.

“I don’t think that’s fair” Akaashi argued, “I mean, he’s trying his best after-all”

“He really wants to impress you” Kuroo began, and once he said that it was like he couldn’t stop, “Literally you’re all he ever talks about, Akaashi this, Akaashi that, yeah Bo I get it you like him but-” Realisation dawned and he took a small step back, seeing Akaashi stare at him in the mirror wide-eyed. Ah.

“Ah shit” Kuroo cursed, dropping his hands by his sides.

“Um... what did you say?” Akaashi mumbled, still staring at him in the mirror.

“I uh- I can’t remember! Heh, uh, I’m nearly done here so after that you can go” he blurted.

“No” Akaashi shook his head, “You said he likes me?”

“I didn’t not say that...” Kuroo muttered, “oh God please don’t tell him, ah shit he’ll kill me”

Akaashi shook his head, “Hmm, I won’t... Uh, it’s actually kind of good, I guess. I mean, I kind of- maybe... I think I like him too, but you _can’t_ say anything!”

It was Kuroo’s turn to stare at Akaashi with wide eyes, “You like Bokuto?!”

“Shhh” Akaashi put his finger to his mouth, “Keep it down... But yeah, why else do you think I’m helping him out?”

“You’re a nice guy? I don’t know”

Bokuto then came back into the salon, completely oblivious to what just happened, and went to talk to the girl behind the reception desk.

Akaashi straightened up and Kuroo got back to work, “Alright, hurry up and finish so then I can go, I’ve got places to be” he said.

Bokuto didn’t have any more work, so he decided to leave early and go home. His Dad was there when he got back, sleeping on the couch. Bokuto accidently slammed the door and shouted when he walked in, so by the time he saw his Dad he was awake again, yawning a rubbing his eyes.

“Oh... Did I wake you up?”

“Yeah, but it’s okay” His Dad replied, standing up, “How was work?”

“Good, it was good...” Bokuto nodded his head, “You’re still tiring I’m guessing?”

“Definitely. The group I’m working with are so immature I don’t know why they think they’re doing a good job. Honestly, I think I’d be better off with you and the girls running around, and maybe throw in Kuroo as well”

Bokuto laughed, “That bad, huh?”

“That bad” he agreed, “Speaking of the girls. Your Mum called and gave me a date; they’re coming over on the 20th. I know it’s a lot to ask but could you maybe keep them occupied, it’s just I’ve got so much to do”

“Of course, they’re my sisters, I’m happy to help out. I’ll get Kuroo on babysitting duty as well; they get on so well it’s kinda scary!”

They both laughed and sat on the couch.

“Kuroo’s still with that Kenma kid isn’t he?” His Dad asked.

“Uh, yeah, why?”

“I was just wondering” he shook his head, “Uh, have you got any partners I don’t know about?”

Bokuto could imagine Kuroo coughing and muttering out “Yes” in-between, but Kuroo wasn’t there, so he said no, “Nope, no partners, just...”

“Just...?” His Dad leaned forward, eagerness to know showing in his eyes.

“Man you’re worse than Kuroo!” Bokuto pushed him away and stood up, “There’s just a guy at the salon, it’s nothing”

“Alright. Whatever you say”


	6. Chapter 6

“So how is the hair thing going? I see you’re not bald so it must be going OK then right?” Oikawa asked, sitting opposite Akaashi in the coffee shop.

Akaashi shrugged, “I suppose”

“You suppose? What’s that meant to mean?” Oikawa raised an eyebrow, “Out with it”

“Well, it’s evident he needs the practice. He, burnt my head, put conditioner in my eye, and...”

“And..?” Oikawa leaned forward.

“I found out he likes me”

“WHAT?!” Oikawa almost spat out his drink, “What? I- Um, how did you find out?”

Akaashi took a sip of his drink then looked down, “Kuroo accidently told me... It wasn’t his fault, please don’t say anything to him or Bokuto or... Keep it between us okay?”

“Sure thing...” Oikawa agreed, “so uh, how do you feel about it? Bokuto liking you, that is?”

Akaashi smiled a little, and Oikawa picked up on it, “I don’t know, I feel... happy, like, really really happy”

“So you like him too?” Oikawa grinned.

“Wha- I never said that!”

The other rolled his eyes, “Please, it’s so obvious! You’re happy that he likes you, if you didn’t like him back then you would’ve been either creeped out or angry or something”

“Really?” Akaashi looked up at Oikawa.

“Yes. Bottom line is, he likes you and you like him. So... do something about it!”

Akaashi shook his head, “I don’t know... I mean, the times that I see him haven’t exactly ended very well and the situation and stuff is always wrong”

“Aren’t you _such_ a romantic?” Oikawa scoffed, “That’s adorable. Caring about the moment, how the moment has to be right. If only Iwa-chan was like that”

Akaashi ignored the comment about being romantic towards him, “Iwaizumi’s not into that?”

“Don’t get me wrong, he’s all about ‘doing it’ in the moment. Once he gets going he’ll do it anywhere, but, he’s not one for cute dates and hand-holding and flowers and breakfast in bed, you know?”

“That sucks. But you guys love each other right, so that shouldn’t matter too much”

Oikawa waved a hand in the air, “Nah, it doesn’t. I love him; I don’t care as long as I have him so... And don’t worry, if you’re a sucker for those cute things, Bokuto definitely is as well, so just be prepared for showers of kisses, hugs, piggybacks and stuff” he sipped his drink, “That is if you make the right decision and ask him out, of course”

“Yeah... of course”

 

 

It’s not very often that Kenma pays visits to the hair salon, but when he does he always finds himself in weird situations, just like this one.

When he walked in he spoke quietly to the receptionist and she said he could go back to the employee lounge to see Kuroo. Tsukishima was busy cutting somebody’s hair, but he gave Kenma a familiar nod in the mirror as he walked past.

He walked into the lounge area, and just through an arch was the kitchen, to which he stopped just outside as he heard something he didn’t quite know how to interpret. But then again he should know by now that none of Kuroo and Bokuto’s conversations were 100% PG-13.

“Come on Bokuto! Just help me!” Kuroo shouted.

“No way dude. I’m not helping you get off” Bokuto replied.

“Hey, hey, just this once”

“This is so embarrassing! You look like such an idiot if anybody was to see you”

“Just help me get off! Nobody’s going to see!”

That was it. Kenma, a little worried about what he might walk in on, turned the corner, and immediately sighed in relief.

Kuroo was stuck on the top of the fridge, squashed between the top of it and the ceiling, Bokuto was there, standing in front of him and laughing his head off.

“Do you guys know how wrong that sounds if you’re standing outside?” Kenma mumbled, opening the fridge Kuroo was on and helping himself to a drink.

“Hey, babe, wanna give me a hand?” Kuroo asked.

“Maybe later” Kenma said, without registering it until he heard Bokuto smirk behind him.

“Ohoho?” Bokuto starts, before Kuroo kicks him from the fridge.

“Somebody get me down!” Kuroo demanded.

Bokuto grabbed Kuroo’s hand and pulled him down; Kuroo fell with a yelp but was fine once he was on the ground. Bokuto started laughing at him again as he rubbed his back, it was sore from being bent in the small gap.

He gave Kenma a quick kiss, “What’s up?” he asked.

“I wanted to see you. The arcade’s closed today and I didn’t have anything to do”

“Aw” Kuroo smiled, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend.

Bokuto watched and looked away, before changing the subject, “Guess what?” he said.

“What?”

“Chiyo and Fumiko are coming on the 20th!” He cheered.

Kuroo high-fived him with his free hand, “Dude that’s awesome, can’t wait! Right Kenma?”

“Oh yeah, super excited, nothing better than trying to work with two kids running around” he said sarcastically.

Bokuto’s eyes drifted from Kenma’s face to his shoulder, where Kuroo’s hand was draped, being held by Kenma’s. There it was again, that pang of jealously.

Oikawa was right, even if he didn’t mean it; Bokuto was the only one in their group of friends that was still single. Even Daichi had got himself a boyfriend, and seeing them did make him feel happier, but still there was an underlying itch that he couldn’t seem to get rid of.

“I have to get some air” Bokuto said, before brushing past his two friends and exiting the salon.

He stood outside, leaning against the glass window looking into the salon. He felt too hot standing there, he knew that all of his friends had something that he would never have, and he couldn’t stay there anymore.

“Bo”

Bokuto looked to his left, seeing Kuroo standing there having just come out the door. He didn’t say anything back to him, just turned back to watch the cars whiz past.

“What happened back there?”

Bokuto shrugged, “Nothing”

“Just spit it out” Kuroo said, walking over and leaning on the window as well, “I’m not stupid, I know when something’s up”

“I’m jealous”

“Jealous?” Kuroo repeated, “Of what?”

“You and Kenma and... Everything, jealous of everything I-” he threw his hands up and sighed, “Everyone I know seems to be getting in relationships and have boyfriends; even _Daichi_ has a fucking boyfriend”

“Hey, dude, me and Kenma aren’t anything to be jealous of, you know, we’re the most imperfect couple there is”

“Is that supposed to cheer me up?” Bokuto asked, and Kuroo shrugged, “Look you don’t have to say anything, just stand there and I’ll get over it”

“You know you can have a relationship, have a boyfriend right?”

“Oh yeah? With who?” Bokuto said bluntly, shaking his head at the street.

“Don’t get all snappy with me!” Kuroo said, poking Bokuto’s side, “Akaashi, Bo, Akaashi”

Bokuto rolled his eyes, “I’ve never had a shot with that guy, especially not now after fucking up all the time”

Kuroo had two options. 1, tell Bokuto the truth, that he accidently told Akaashi that he liked him, but Akaashi liked him too so it was alright. Or 2, keep quiet about having that conversation with Akaashi, just give him some friendly advice and tell him to figure it out on his own.

“Look, dude, I don’t know about Akaashi but you seem to really like him. If... If I were you I would just go for it and ask him out, you know?”

“You make everything seem so easy” Bokuto pointed out, “but it’s not that easy”

“Sure it is. Hey, he’s coming in tomorrow... You’re going to wash _and_ cut his hair”

“Kuroo, no! I can’t!”

“Let me finish” Kuroo interrupted, “I know, you’re probably thinking ‘oh god I’ll fuck it up and Akaashi will hate me’ but even if you do, I doubt he’ll care. Wash his hair, give him a really nice haircut, then, ask him out, it’s perfect timing”

“Fuck off” Bokuto said, “Excellent timing when I completely ruin everything”

“Do whatever you want, but I’m telling you, when are you going to see him apart from at the salon? Whenever you ask him it’s going to be there, so what’s the worst that could happen?”

Bokuto nodded, “Alright. You know you can go back inside right? I’m gonna stay out here for a bit, it’s too hot in there”

“Nah, that’s only because I was in there” Kuroo laughed, before punching Bokuto in the arm and going back inside.

Bokuto smiled and looked up, it seemed that everybody walking on the street was with somebody else, holding hands. If he wanted to get over that feeling of jealously, that feeling of wanting something he can’t have, he’s going to have to at least try and do something about it.


	7. Chapter 7

“Hi!” Akaashi said, leaning against the reception desk as Bokuto came out to greet him.

“Hey” Bokuto replied, very cautious of his hands for some reason, making sure he knew where they were so they weren’t in his hair, “Uhm, if it’s okay with you, Kuroo suggested I cut your hair today...”

Akaashi’s eyes widened a moment, but he smiled warmly and nodded his head, “Yeah, that’s cool!”

“Okay” Bokuto lead him over and washed his hair, for the first time nothing bad happened, to which he inwardly cheered.

He was breathing incredibly slowly, holding a pair of scissors and a comb, Akaashi sitting in front of him at Kuroo’s station.

“Are you alright?” Akaashi asked, looking at Bokuto in the mirror.

“Yeah... Um, are you sure you’re okay with me doing this? You won’t be mad if I mess it up?”

“You’re not going to get any better if you don’t, so, just try your best. I won’t be mad”

His hands hovered above Akaashi’s head for a moment, before he sat down on the stool provided by Kuroo and began coming through the wet strands. “Tidy up?”

Akaashi laughed, “You sound like Kuroo”

Bokuto wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not, so he just laughed as well, before bringing the scissors to Akaashi’s hair.

It wasn’t until he’d cut a few pieces he realised that he had stopped breathing. He let out a long breath and took a couple of minutes. Okay, it was looking good; he hadn’t done anything absolutely dreadful just yet... He could do this.

He worked his way round Akaashi’s head from left to the back to the right, then worked on some of the front. Akaashi was trying his best not to wince every time he saw a bit of his hair getting cut; he didn’t want to knock Bokuto’s confidence.

Akaashi found it cute, the way Bokuto’s tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth as he concentrated, the little bit of pink compared to red lips.

“Oops”

 _Oops? What did_ ‘Oops’ _mean? Did he mess up? What did he do?_

“Everything alright?” Akaashi asked, actually dreading the reply.

“I think I’m done” Bokuto replied.

Akaashi looked up; he’d spent the time looking down to stop himself from saying anything, “You’re done?”

“Yeah... Uh, the back is a little uneven and stuff though”

“How uneven?” Akaashi asked.

“Well... It’s patchy, and I may have cut a bit of your fringe off but you’ll make it work, you look good in everything so-” he bit his tongue to stop from saying anything else, feeling his face burn slightly.

Akaashi studied his reflection. It was obvious which bit of his fringe was missing, but it didn’t actually look too bad. Considering it was his first time, he did a pretty good job. “It looks good” he said, “Can I have a mirror so I can see the back?”

“Sure” Bokuto held a mirror behind Akaashi’s head, and he immediately took in a sharp breath when he saw, “Yeah, I’m sorry”

Bokuto was right, the back was very patchy, but Akaashi just did his best to smile, “It looks alright. I’ll wear a hat”

“It’s a little hard to wear a hat in summer, but, I’m sure you’ll be able to pull off a big beach hat”

Akaashi laughed and allowed Bokuto to remove the towel and robe from his body. He was about to stand up when he saw Bokuto move in the reflection, leaning down slightly behind him.

Akaashi’s breath hitched when he felt Bokuto blowing gently on the back of his neck, the warm air making the hairs stand on end and send shivers down his spine. He swore he had goose bumps as his eyes fluttered shut.

“You just had some hair there” Bokuto said. Akaashi opened his eyes quickly, realising he may have been enjoying that feeling maybe a bit too much.

“Oh, alright, thanks”

Akaashi stood up and he and Bokuto walked over to the reception desk. Bokuto put in some figures on the computer and looked back up at Akaashi, “You owe me...” he said, checking the screen once more and Akaashi took the opportunity.

“That’s my line” Akaashi said.

Bokuto looked up, eyes filled with confusion but with a hint of curiosity, “What?”

Akaashi shuffled a little uncomfortably, hands fiddling with each other behind his back as he tried to think of something to say.

“Uhm” he began, “You spilt a boiling hot drink on me, burnt my head with water and got conditioner in my eye” Akaashi breathed slowly, watching Bokuto’s face flush as he remembered the embarrassing encounters, but he carried on, “I get the same haircut every time I come in here, which is way too often for what I get done, and the one time I try something different, you give me, I hate to say it, a terrible haircut”

Bokuto smiled, still with a hint of embarrassment.

“Why do you think I keep on coming back here?”

Bokuto stared at him, trying to go over reasons, “Uhm, you like our products? No, wait, our customer service!” he clicked fingers.

“I like _you!”_ Akaashi blurted.

“Me?!” Bokuto stuttered, eyes wider than he thought they could go.

“I like your clumsy habits, and your stupid owl hair, your lopsided grin, and your... big, strong hands” Akaashi cleared his throat, “I liked the way you breathed on my neck before, I liked it a lot...” his face was bright red and he coughed, “Plus... you owe me a latte”

Bokuto swallowed, taking everything that Akaashi said in. “You like me?”

“Yes. Yes I like you” Akaashi repeated, “What do you say? Coffee?”

Bokuto nodded furiously, “Yes! I would love to go for coffee! Yes, absolutely!” He beamed, “I really like you too, I really, really, really, really like you too!”

**Epilogue (20 th of the next month)**

Akaashi, Bokuto, Kuroo and Kenma were all at the arcade, babysitting Bokuto’s younger sisters. They loved playing on the old arcade games, which wasn’t a problem as it gave the boys some time to relax whilst they were preoccupied.

“They’re so cute” Akaashi said, watching Chiyo play Miss Pacman.

“They are until they’re hungry” Bokuto said.

“...or tired” Kuroo added.

“...or want something you don’t have” Kenma put on the end.

Akaashi laughed, and rested his head on Bokuto’s shoulder. Bokuto turned his head, inhaling the smell of Akaashi’s hair, not the smell of the salon shampoo, but just Akaashi. It was nice, very nice.

“UNCLE OIKAWA!” Fumiko screamed, jumping off her game and running over to the two boys who had just walked in. Oikawa screamed back, albeit quieter, and crouched down to the 9 year old’s height.

“Hey, Fumi-chan, how are you?”

“Koutarou got a new boyfriend!” She grinned, some of her teeth missing.

Oikawa laughed and walked over to his friends, Iwaizumi in tow. Fumiko seemed to like Iwaizumi, as he hung onto his arms almost the entire time.

“See, look how strong my Iwa-chan is” Oikawa bragged, nudging Kuroo and Bokuto and pointed to Iwaizumi, who literally had two children hanging off of his arms.

Chiyo eventually dropped down and crawled over to Akaashi, who was sitting on the floor cross-legged next to Bokuto, “Do you love my brother?” he asked.

“ _Chiyo_ ” Bokuto muttered, turning away to watch Oikawa and Kuroo play with Fumiko.

Akaashi looked down at the 7 year old, at first he was a little shocked, but he smiled gently and stroked her hair, “Yeah, yeah I do”

Bokuto’s head whipped round, staring at Akaashi almost in disbelief. He smiled warmly at him.

“Are you going to get married?” She asked, looking expectantly between the two boys.

“Alright, Chiyo, time for you to play tag with me and Oikawa and Iwaizumi and your sister okay?” Kuroo said, coming over and picking her up. She laughed like crazy when Kuroo started spinning around and he carried her over to the others. Kenma was still working, but he occasionally came over to make sure things weren’t going wrong.

“Maybe... Someday” Akaashi said.

“What?” Bokuto asked.

“I- nothing” Akaashi smiled, “Oh hey, thanks for adding me to that chat by the way, it’s... very interesting”

Bokuto laughed, “Yeah, well, you’ll grow to love it!” he said, “By the way... I’ve never said this, and thanks for helping me out and everything, but I don’t actually want to be a hairdresser”

Akaashi rolled his eyes, “I figured” he laughed.

“Koutarou! Come play! Come play!” Fumiko shouted over.

Bokuto grumbled a little before getting to his feet, he turned around and held a hand out to Akaashi, “You coming?”

“Nah, you go, have fun” Akaashi replied, but not before grabbing Bokuto’s hand and placing a small kiss on the top of it, making him blush.

Akaashi watched them all run around, shouting and screaming, until Kenma came over and told them to shut up. He laughed at that.

There was a warm feeling in his stomach as he watched Bokuto play with his sisters, how he made them laugh as he picked them up and tickled the bottoms of their feet. It was cute, and he liked how much of a good brother he was.

Afterwards, they headed over to the food court and all had lunch. Fumiko and Chiyo sharing a pizza, Oikawa had pasta, Iwaizumi had a burger, Bokuto and Kuroo having tacos and Akaashi had his own small pizza. Kenma stayed with them for a bit, but he had to go back to work afterwards.

Bokuto was in the middle of eating when he spotted Suga and Daichi, and naturally, he called out to them, “DAICHI! HEY DAICHI, SUGA!” he called.

Daichi knew it was a bad idea to walk through the food court, but Suga dragged him over to their table and pulled up two chairs.

“What a coincidence” Kuroo smirked, his matching Bokuto’s. Man, Daichi wouldn’t mind smacking those off.

“Yup”

“Why don’t you join us?” Oikawa suggested, stealing a fry from Iwaizumi’s plate.

“We’d love to, but we’re actually running late” Daichi said.

“What’re you talking about?” Suga asked, “We’re not going anywhere. Sure, we’ll join you”

Daichi rolled his eyes, and tried his best to talk to the saner people, such as Akaashi and Iwaizumi and Suga, and avoid interactions with Bokuto, Kuroo or Oikawa.

Akaashi liked this. He’d never really had a group of friends, there were people that he hung out with, but they weren’t anything but mere acquaintances. But these guys were different, some of them had nothing in common but it didn’t matter because they could all agree to be friends.

It was a good lunch, the older of the group having a good gossip about who’s banging who from their old schools, whilst the girls sat on the end trying to figure out what they were saying.

“This Matsuhana person is shagging Hanamaki?” Chiyo piped up.

All heads snapped round, 7 sets of eyes staring at the younger of the two girls. Obviously, she didn’t know what she had just said, but there wasn’t anything that said she wouldn’t repeat it around either of her parents.

“What does shag mean?” she asked.

Bokuto put a hand over her mouth, “Alright, that’s enough of that... Don’t repeat that word to Mum or Dad okay?” she nodded slowly.

After saying goodbye to everybody, Akaashi and Bokuto and the girls walked home. Fumiko and Chiyo were in between Akaashi and Bokuto holding their hands.

There was a couple sitting on a bench further up the road, and as they walked past Chiyo looked up at Bokuto, who was firmly gripped her hand and said, “I wonder if they are shagging”

Akaashi and Bokuto looked at each other before down at the 7 year old, “Uhm, that’s enough of that, alright, Chiyo?” Bokuto said.

“Can we play games tonight?” Fumiko asked, tugging at Akaashi’s hand.

“Maybe” Akaashi looked down, “We’ll see when we get you home okay?”

“Is it not your home as well?” She asked.

Akaashi smiled, “No, I live in the opposite direction, you can come check it out sometime if you want?” Fumiko smiled.

They walked in silence for a bit, just the occasional complaint about sore feet, before Chiyo piped up again, “Are they shagging?”

“Chiyo!”

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh! I really enjoyed writing this, and I really hoped that you enjoyed reading it! Kudos/comments/bookmarks are always appreciated, and thanks for reading! If you want to read more of my Bokuaka stories then head to my profile! xxx <3


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